Word Origin & History

rough O.E. ruh "rough, untrimmed, uncultivated," from W.Gmc. *rukhwaz "shaggy, hairy, rough" (cf. M.Du. ruuch, Du. ruig, O.H.G. ruher, Ger. rauh), from P.Gmc. *rukhaz. The original -gh- sound was guttural, as in Scottish loch. Sense of "approximate" is first recorded 1607. The noun meaning "broken ground" is from 1480 (phrase in the rough first recorded 1823); specific sense in golf is from 1901. Noun meaning "a rowdy" is first attested 1837. Rough draft is from 1699. Rough-and-ready is from 1810, originally military; rough-and-tumble (1810) is from the prize ring; .